Zinc And Prostate Health

Zinc And Prostate Health

The importance of the expound mineral, zinc has been well documented for its role in supporting prostate health. The normal human prostate accumulates the highest level of zinc of any soft tissue in the body. Zinc is decisive for prostate functions and male hormone activity. Thence, zinc is often referred to as “The Masculine Mineral”.
Studies have shown that Prostate health functions are highly dependent on the adequate availability of zinc. Zinc is required for the production of sperm and seminal liquid. 1 A deficiency has been associated with impotence and infertility problems. Excessive sexual activity may lead to meagerness of zinc stores.
Prostatitis and BPH
Infection and stress lower blood juice levels of zinc and lower their levels in the prostate in particular. In prostatitis, zinc levels are only one - tenth of those in a normal prostate. 2 ( Fair and Heston, 1977; Pfeiffer, 1978 ).
While infection and stress can lead to lower zinc levels, so can age. Zinc levels gradually reduce as men age. 3, 4 Researchers have construct that Testosterone levels decrease after the age of fifty creating an increase in the amount of dihydrotestosterone ( DHT ) within the prostate. DHT is a powerful hormone which may be high for the overproduction of prostate cells, leading to balmy prostatic hyperplasia ( BPH ).
It is the say so of many researchers that Prostate heightening that is seen in older men may be related to low zinc levels causing alterations in hormone balance. Zinc is believed to inhibit the activity of 5 - alpha - reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone to its more powerful playmate, dihydrotestosterone. " Stimulation of the prostate gland by dihydrotestosterone contributes to its upping, so reducing levels of this hormone should lead to a reduction in prostate size, " says Fouad Habib, Ph. D., a cell naturalist at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, Scotland.
Dr. Irving Wilds, M. D., professor of urology at the University of Health Sciences / Chicago Medical School, senior consultant at the Center for Study of Genitourinary Diseases in West Dundee, Illinois, and former chairman of the Food and Drug Administration panels on gastroenterology, urology and dialysis, did a small study of the use of zinc in treating patients with BPH. Dr. Disarray form that 14 of the 19 men experienced shortness of the prostate.
Adequate zinc levels are thought to be essential for maintaining healthy prostate cells. Since zinc deficiency may payoff in prostate enlargement, zinc is as helpful with stringy prostates as inflamed ones caused by prostatitis.
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the second leading originate of cancer deaths in American men, and it is suspected that most ancient men have some freakish prostate cells. Cancerous prostates have much less zinc than normal prostates, and several studies have turned on bleedin' zinc stratum in the development and improvement of prostate malignancy. There is also some try that enhanced dietary zinc is associated with a reduction in the incidence of prostate cancer. 5
Human cell culture research conducted at the Linus Pauling Institute at the Oregon State University suggests that zinc supplementation may be more helpful in the rudimentary stages of cancer development moderately than as cancer treatment.
Zinc is partly non - existent in distilled, pure foods. If the soil is low in zinc, fruits and vegetables grown on it will also be deficient. Very few men earn even the low US RDA of 15 milligrams of zinc a day. Zinc - rich foods have nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, wheat germ, brewer ' s yeast, onions, molasses, peas, wampum, lentils, and gelatin.
1. A. E. Omua, M. K. Al - Azemia, E. O. Kehindeb, J. T. Animc, M. A. Oriowod, T. C. Mathews Faculty of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, Kuwait University, Kuwait, Indications of the Mechanisms Involved in Prominent Sperm Parameters by Zinc Therapy, Med Princ Pract 2008; 17: 108 - 116 ( DOI: 10. 1159 / 000112963 )
2. 2. Fair, W. R. and Heston, W. " Prostate Inflammation Linked to Zinc Shortage " Prevention 113: June, 1977
3. Salgueiro MJ, Zubillaga M, Lysionek A, et al. Zinc position and resistant system relationship: a review. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2000; 76 ( 3 ): 193 - 205. ( PubMed )
4. Fortes C, Forastiere F, Agabiti N, et al. The effect of zinc and vitamin A supplementation on immune response in an older population. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998; 46 ( 1 ): 19 - 26. ( PubMed )
5. Leitzmann MF, Stampfer MJ, Wu K, Colditz GA, Willett Lavatory, Giovannucci EL, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, Zinc supplement use and risk of prostate cancer. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Jul 2; 95 ( 13 ): 1004 - 7,